Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1887-12-22

ne tgsct Upon soil In wet aa wen As iJfS
weather.

WUitM ANt iOVNu VI An0 0tVHH HbhRNAfNNt |
Is Indispensable 10 the culture Of the |
land and the growth of the crops. A
sodden swale or swamp can not be
cultivated and I'll constant danger
and menace TO the health Of the persons
living near IL and Of animals feeding
upon or about Ia But when II Is
drained the life-giving air enters and
fertility abounds. drops thrive with
luxuriance. and malaria no more makes
life a burden. So IL Is with all reten-
tive soils In which water remains too
long for profitable working, and. hav-
ing no bottom outlet, escapes by slow
surface evaporation. chilling the land,
filling the air with moisture and poison
Gus germs and preventing scasonable
culture. Such land must be drained.
There Is no alternative, and II the es-
cape Of tho water through the tiles
used for the purpose of carrying of the
water does really cause disastrous
droughts, tits result which can not be
helped
II may be worth while to discuss this
matter and see IL this result does really
occur, ms is stated by some very intelli-
gent writers, whose belief is entitled TO
some consideration. The past summer
has been exceedingly dry In parts OF
Ohio, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin, and
crops have suffered seriously for want
of moisture. Has the drainage Of wet
lands and tho removal Of surplus water
had any serious effect in intensifying
the results Of the dry weather. No
reasonable or sane person would enter
tain for moment the idea that the
tiles in the ground caused the dry
weather and prevented rain from fall
ing But it is charged that the tiles
carry of the rainfall rs fast as IL comes
down; that the water reaches the
drains and flows of, leaving the ground
above their level dry and without any
more water than II can hold by suspen.
sion, and even preventing the watel
from reaching the subsoil and the wells
and so causing famine Of water in {
dry season. II this be true It is mat
/ ter Of choice Of two evils. saturation o
the soil and sloughs and swamps, or al
occasional water famine. Then tn
question occurs, is this so?
The action Of drains Is well under
stood. Water does-noi enter dFain
from above, sinking in the soil an,
passing of through the tiles This {
not the way the water e-~apes into IN
tiles. When the soil ccomes fille'
with as much water rs can hold. N
to the surface. the excess then flows oi
by the way of tho hollow places int
the water courses. This is when ther
are 40 subsoil drains When land ]
drained sufficiently to carry Off the eS
cess above the point Of saturation. tn
water sinking down forces itself int
the drains from below, excepting froI
directly over the tiles. and in gradt
ally sloping direction upward to III
central line bvtrieen the drains An
no more thus passes into the drain
than the excess above the saturatio
,, point, and IL this did not flow into tl
drains It would escape from the SUI
,, /, face. The drains will carry of this su
plus water If it is not more than II
soil can pass through its pores; II it
in excess Of thu ability of the soil
let It through it will flow off from Il
: surface, whether the land is drain,
or not. One principal point in Il
practice Of drainage is to provide SUE
a sufficient number of drains as wi
carry OF all the surplus water and pr
vent surface washing, and to have !
: more drains than will do this withol
lowering the point Of saturation belo
: the surface midway between Il
!, drains. This depends upon the cha
u acter of the land, and the engine
who lays out the system of drainai
: will always carefully consider III
= point and avoid making mistal
= either way. SO that in fact the drail
= :. do not remove any more water fro
y the land than would How away IL the
were no drains; the effect of the drai
: being only 10 carry away the surpl
" below the surface that would otht
= wise flow off on the surface. 1t is mu
: : better that the escape should be by /
! drains than by the surface. for in
!. passage through the soil the wat
a - parts with whatever fertilizing mat
it may contain, and by means of I
!, carbonic acid. oxygen and nitrogen
"a may hold in solution, II not only C
- veys plant food to the crops in tn,
: forms. but it has considerable use
effect upon the soil in dissolving m
eral matter which the crops can nv
II themselves of. These are the effects
~ the drains upon the soil in wet weatl
-. when water is in excess; now let
= consider their effect in dry wealth
~ when moisture Is deficient
= Soil parts with its moisture more
81 less rapidly, in proportion TO its sol
~ ity or porosity. A ball of solid G.
pressed hard and compactly will ,
n out very quickly, and because of
% want of porosity it will absorb m'
n ture very slowly. II the clay is ?
N verized and moistoned il will rem
.w moist much longer than when il is /
10 solid mass, and when dry win abs
10 moisture more quickly. The bchay
,u Of soils in this respect has been inve
h. gated by several careful observers. 1
he especially by the German Profes
M Schnbler. who found that compact c
no soil absorbed 40 per cent. Of water
nd "a hours in a moist atmosphere, I
parted with SO per cent in dry atm
as phere in the same time, while fria
os .oam or drained soil absorbed IS
10 cont. of water (and held it in susp
mt sion) In "a hours, aud parted with o
nd "a per cent. Of 1t in the same time 1
nd dry air
,ed These facts are corroborated by m
,ce recent observations in American
,ld pertinent stations and are in accS